Which eBook Reader App?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by =X=

What size tablet are you reading on? My experience with reading on both the iPad and Transformer was similar. Well actually the transformer was better but that was because I was using ezPDF vs iPads stock PDF reader(I'm assuming a good PDF reader would give the same experience).

The iPad doesn't have a stock PDF reader - you need to install some app or other to handle them. I'm guessing you have iBooks installed? That will read PDFs, but it's not a very good PDF reader. Goodreader (which costs, I think, $5) seems to be the one that most people think is best. It really is excellent.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The iPad doesn't have a stock PDF reader - you need to install some app or other to handle them. I'm guessing you have iBooks installed? That will read PDFs, but it's not a very good PDF reader. Goodreader (which costs, I think, $5) seems to be the one that most people think is best. It really is excellent.

I don't know if my son or wife installed a PDF reader on the iPad, though it would be very uncharacteristic of them to install a PDF reader on any device. I just know that her iPad has always had the ability to read PDFs from the mail client. It might be the mail client, all I know is it is basic reader but PDFs look good on it.

I heard good things about GoodReader, looks like the price dropped by half. I would pick it up in a heartbeat if the iPad is mine.

[fbrII]

I like Mantano for library management, especially if you have a lot of books. It's easy to organize, categorize, tag, import etc. Another nice feature with Mantano is their cloud that will allow you to synch between devices. You can also synch between devices with Moon+ using Dropbox.

For reading, I prefer Moon+ or Cool reader. Not that Mantano is bad but I prefer blank lines between paragraphs (have not found a method to format with Mantano) and as for font rendering and selection, Moon+ has definately been the best for me.

Overall combination of features? I would have to give the edge to Mantano.

All that said, it's hard to go wrong with any of the three.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by =X=

I don't know if my son or wife installed a PDF reader on the iPad, though it would be very uncharacteristic of them to install a PDF reader on any device. I just know that her iPad has always had the ability to read PDFs from the mail client. It might be the mail client, all I know is it is basic reader but PDFs look good on it.

It's almost certainly iBooks. You get asked if you want to install it the first time you connect an iPad to iTunes, so almost every iPad has it.

I heard good things about GoodReader, looks like the price dropped by half. I would pick it up in a heartbeat if the iPad is mine.

It really is an excellent app.

[Piper_]

My first priority is Text to Speech. Unfortunately, I read somewhere that Mantano won't continue "speaking" if the display is turned off, but Moon+ will. Anyone here know for sure?

How about Coolreader?

Or, would it be better/possible to go with a separate TTS engine, e.g., IVONA. I really liked the voice sample they have at that link, but will it work smoothly with these ereader aps? i.e., like the Kindle TTS.

[nursedude]

When I had my ASUS tablet I really liked Coolreader for it's support of both epub AND mobi formats. Main drawback is it's lack of .pdf support.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Piper_

My first priority is Text to Speech. Unfortunately, I read somewhere that Mantano won't continue "speaking" if the display is turned off, but Moon+ will. Anyone here know for sure?

I just tried it in Mantano. On my Galaxy S it continues speaking even when I turn the screen off.

[Piper_]

Awesome. Thanks, Brian.

[Rockbobster]

I have found FBReader to be very capable. It can reflow a PDF, has a text to speech plugin, has dictionaries, has access to online books (Manybooks, Smashwords and more) and can organize your collection. I can not think of anything more I want it to do.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Rockbobster

I have found FBReader to be very capable. It can reflow a PDF, has a text to speech plugin, has dictionaries, has access to online books (Manybooks, Smashwords and more) and can organize your collection. I can not think of anything more I want it to do.

It's a pretty poor reader, though, in my experience. Or at least it was when I last encountered it, on my Pocketbook. I don't know if it's improved since. The version I used wasn't at all good at pretty basic formatting issues - eg, it would ignore hard page breaks.

[Moe The Cat]

Originally Posted by Rockbobster

... FBReader ... It can reflow a PDF ...

Are you sure? I don't think FBReader has ever been able to read PDF documents ... Do you mean epub?

[trocchietto]

for pdf Repligo reader is amazing and often undervalued, permits to highlight with reflow, and is really smart, it looks to me to scan the real book pages when I fast move the pages.

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by =X=

Mantano is the only one I can think of that has a check on all your requirements.


I like Mantano it's a pretty good reader, but my reader of choice is Moon+ it has a better TTS engine and has the ability to enlarge images/charts. Also it's exporting of notes is easier than Mantano. Moon does not support PDF but does support other formats

Both of these eReaders integrate with a third party dictionary called ColorDict.

for me with mantano is pretty frustrating to highlight the first word, and considering the price I paid, I would expect to build a table of contents

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by =X=

Mantano is the only one I can think of that has a check on all your requirements.


I like Mantano it's a pretty good reader, but my reader of choice is Moon+ it has a better TTS engine and has the ability to enlarge images/charts. Also it's exporting of notes is easier than Mantano. Moon does not support PDF but does support other formats

Both of these eReaders integrate with a third party dictionary called ColorDict.

for me with mantano is pretty frustrating to highlight the first word, and considering the price I paid, I would expect to build a table of contents charachteristic that the android viewers undervalue a lot.